Too Attached
by Stephy825
Summary: I've played it around two-three times already, finishing the whole game and all...and no matter how long it would be, at some point, I would love to play it again...Though at that time, I had no idea that the plot will be different. -Self Insert-
1. Prologue

Prologue

_Every time I play Lux-pain again, there would at least be one sleepless night waiting for me. I've played it around two-three times already, finishing the whole game and all...and no matter how long it would be, at some point, I would love to play it again. For memories sake. So once more, I pick up my DS and press the button. Though at that time, I had no idea that the plot will be different._

* * *

I have always wondered why I was a _'night'_ person instead of a _'morning'_ person. Every time, when I lie down on my bed, and all the lights are off, I would still drift on to dreamland...while my eyes would be wide open. Ideas would spring up; stories plots would continue to consume me till my mind was swimming with dialogues and backgrounds. And then, at some point, I would have to tell myself it's late and I start counting sheep for me to finally sleep.

It was my dad that told me to count sheep, even though I knew about it when I was little, it was only this summer that I took the idea seriously. My record I think was 249, but I never got to beat Pete's record of 389...or so my memory serves..."One sheep jumped over the fence...two sheep jumped over the fence...three sheep jumped over the fence..." and I would go on and on until I find the yellow-orange light streaming from my window. I never got how I fell asleep, and that always puzzled me.

Lying lazily on my bed for around ten minutes, I finally urged myself to sit up and stand from my red colored sofa-bed. Everyone else in my family would probably be awake already, though there was this one time I got myself to sit up at 7am, with my little sister and my parents still sleeping.

I walked out of the medium-sized bedroom and staggered out to the living room, where the only computer in the entire house sits. (Unless my dad brings home his 'work' laptop, which we mostly get to use at night.) I saw my dad getting ready to work and my mom sitting on a chair, typing something on her Facebook. My little sis wasn't inside the room, so she must be at the other room playing on her DS. If I were to guess it would either be Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time or Dragon Quest Rocket Slime...and in front me was circular glass dining table, with breakfast served, and only my plate was there. This scene was way too common, but I was thankfully awake enough to ask my dad before he went out of the door.

"Papa?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I change my games?"

"Sure." it was that simple. Well, you see, around two years ago, I accidentally broke something inside the game card of my DS. And now I can't get the games to work unless my dad's there to fix it. It would take around a minute really, but I can't do it, so I'm dependent on him to help me.

I was able to convince my mom to let me have the computer so that I could change it, at that point I already removed the game card and inserted it inside this USB-like thing and inserted it to the computer. A window appeared after that, showing the eighteen games in it. Deleting a few, I opened another window to display the other bunch of games I downloaded. Hey, before I continue with what I was saying, swear to not mention this to those police people out there okay? I know it's illegal or something to download games but...okay, I got them from...never mind. So, just continue like this is normal, alright? Thank you.

Scrolling down the big list of games I got, I was able to find the one I was looking for, _Lux-Pain_. I dragged it to the other one with no effort, after all I have done this before, and doing this was a cinch. I'm just glad that my parents are the ones that allow me to choose my games instead of cramming my DS with 'educational' games and those stupid 'girly' games that they think I might like. They've known me long enough that I enjoy Pokémon, Digimon and other RPG games. So it is good to let your parents know your likes and dislikes often.

Quickly, I removed the stick with no trouble and handed it to my dad, and after standing for a few seconds, he was done. He kissed me then and went out of the door. I replied back with a 'goodbye', and he was off.

Returning the card back to my trusty DS, I scooted to an empty room and closed the door, locking it in case. I always liked playing alone, especially if it was a new game. But since I have finished Lux-Pain before, I wasn't as excited. But it didn't matter; I just enjoyed listening and reading it as much as I please, without any disruptions.

Opening my game console, I turned it on, and the white screen popped out, like the usual. Then after one second, it would change to a light blue background, with the Elric brothers as kids eating watermelon on it. I always thought of it as cute, but now, I was more focused on playing the game I just got. I pressed the 'A' button again so that the screen would change to a list, showing that games presently on the card. I held down on the 'down' button of the D-pad until it reached the title I wanted,

_'Lux-Pain'_

I pressed the 'A' button once more, and the loading bar showed, and in a matter of two to three seconds, the DS faded into black, then white. It began to show a bunch of logos I didn't really care much about, and then that's when I heard it, the theme song. I missed hearing it, for it has been so long since I last played with Atsuki Saijo. I think I have opened the game enough times to memorize the song, well, for me anyway.

_"Ikutsu kokoro...suteta naraba..."_ the song started and the anime began to flow out. I mentally squealed when I saw Atsuki again, ah...the good times. The video went on, and I saw Natsuki, Nola, and Liu Yee too. Soon Yayoi appeared, and then Mika, Nami, Rui, Shinji, Akira, Ryo, and the last, Yui. All the characters I now recognized compared to last year, when I had no clue who those people were and all I thought of them were random people in the story. Yes...I really thought that.

The song finally ended with Atsuki in the night...I sighed. At that point, I always wondered about why Lux-Pain was always given bad reviews. I was honestly shocked when the reviews mostly contained negative things...and the ratings were really low. Sure the game play isn't the best and the translation confuses me sometimes, but the confusion at the start is just the thing of the plot. If they don't understand the game, then let them just play it again. I understood it, so why couldn't they?

I pushed all the thoughts away and turned my attention to the menu screen once more. And then I flinched in surprise, a dialogue box was staring at me, at the menu screen, which never happened before...

_'Unlocked New Game+'_

"H-huh? But I was sure I deleted the save file before I took it off all together..." I mumbled. Curiosity got the better of me though, and besides, it was a game. What's the worst that can happen?

I pressed on the D-Pad again until it hovered over the new option that appeared on the screen. Pressing 'A', the whole DS turned black, and I was left here for around ten seconds, wondering how long I had to wait until something would happen.

"Huh...maybe it hanged." I was about to reach the 'Off' switch when the DS screen shone bright white, and for a moment, I was blinded. The whole thing startled me, because I didn't know my DS could be that bright, and before I knew it, I passed out.

* * *

A/N: Okay, if you're wondering about the title, it will be explained on the next chapter. Anyway, I just made it, because...I like Lux-Pain. And yes, this is really a 'Self-insert' story. So...I tried to make sure that I didn't make it too personal...so I tried to thin down the dialogues with my family as much as possible. But...if you read this, then you've already gotten a good picture of my typical morning in the summer. :3

Oh yes, if you're wondering what the next chapter will be like, the clue is actually somewhere in the prologue. Yeah, just try to guess. _*smirk*_


	2. Episode 00 Part 1: Pandora

Episode 00 - Pandora

I wake up and found myself...standing. It was night time, the moon was full and it seemed like I was outside. I saw a bunch of buildings, the whole place was dark...and worse, I had no idea where I was.

"W-what the..? Where am I?" I muttered as my head began throbbing; I didn't like this at all.

"What happened..?" I tried my best to recall what had just occurred. I was playing my DS inside my room...playing...Lux-Pain.

"The New Game+...I unlocked it...then I played it...then...huh?" all of a sudden I began to move without me knowing, a single thought ran through my mind, and it sent me shivers down my spine.

_'Destroy Silent.'_

I didn't understand. Silent? What was that about? The only time I heard that word used like that was in...

"It can't be...is this..?" suddenly, more thoughts ran through my head, more phrases...and the more I heard them, the more I was convinced that I was inside the game. It sounded ridiculous, but it was the best theory I could think of at the moment.

_'Original'_..._'infectee'_..._'Kisaragi'_...that settled it, I was sure I was inside the game. But that could only mean...

"Atsuki..?" I said aloud. I didn't hear anything besides the painful stillness. It scared me to the maximum. I desperately wanted the silence to break, but I only had my thoughts to comfort me.

I saw that I was in front of two large buildings, and as far as I could remember from the game, Atsuki was supposed to go inside one of them...and investigate something related to the Silent. It was so dark, like I never thought that nights can get this black. I was even more frightened now.

"Around here Atsuki." I heard a voice say, which made me flinch. The voice...sounded like Nola. She was talking with Atsuki, and then a memory hit me, she was also talking like this in the game. So...I must be at the very beginning.

"Hurry, use Sigma to find the target's hiding place!" she said.

"Okay, I'll search now." I heard Atsuki reply. The weirdest thing was that I couldn't see Atsuki anywhere, like he was invisible. But I heard him, and that was enough to comfort me just a little bit.

All of a sudden, a large, invisible wave hit me. And then my vision grew blurry, the buildings began to look different, like I was in a totally different dimension. I realized by then that this must be Atsuki's Sigma at work, and now I was seeing it through his eyes. I felt the power in my arm, and then I saw something creeping around the building, it looked like some kind of shadow. Out of the blue, the shadow made itself more clear, and it started to take the shape of a leech of some sort. Then, unexpectedly, a thought ran through me and what it was...horrified me even more.

Words began to swim in my head. Pain, suffering, the joy of killing, it was so sickening that I wanted to hurl. But it seemed that Atsuki didn't know of my presence and another wave stroke me again.

This time, the thoughts were filled with loneliness-no, abandonment. It was saying that our world was a filthy world, the feeling was so heavy and depressing, and I never experienced anything like this in my entire life.

"I found the Shinen." it was Atsuki. And by his voice, it didn't seem like he didn't mind it at all. How could he go through all that? For me, I felt like I wanted to run away from the hurt, but he didn't seemed to be fazed by it. I tried to strengthen myself again, because I knew that there would be more thoughts like that soon. "Both Residual Shinen feel strongly like death. I'm gonna take on the target and bring Silent out!"

"Atsuki, wait! Liu Yee will be there soon!" Nola shouted in worry, but I felt myself running again, and this time, into the building.

* * *

After climbing a few stairs, we were both standing in front of the door. I gulped, but Atsuki just turned the knob and opened the door. As soon as he opened it, a foul stench hit me similar to a bullet, and I was faced with a room clumped with all kinds of trash and boxes everywhere. It felt almost as if it was a garbage dump, and what made the whole place freak me out was that it was really dark, and the whole room was shaded gray.

I felt Atsuki using Sigma again, and I tried to brace myself for the worst.

And then, the thoughts finally began to hit me again.

The words began to cloud my mind; I felt a humongous power in it, like the thoughts told me that I could do anything, that I was _God_. I felt the pain it had when whatever it was killing started to rebel, and the pain...oh the suffering...it was unbearable.

The next one came in before I could recover from the first, this time; it was like a plea for help. I could tell it was one of the animals that were in here, because the cries sounded like only an animal can make. It was like I was reliving the moment, when fear was circling in it, and the deaths of all the other animals in front of it, and it knew it was next.

I shivered; the negative sensations felt like they were bringing me down...by a lot. Suddenly, another thought ran through my head.

_'The occupant's dead body is in the back room...from the Shinen...he died two weeks ago...the Shinen of the animals he killed was on the box...he was a sadist, who enjoyed torturing animals...he was infected by Silent, but not our target...'_

I told myself that it was Atsuki's thoughts, instead of some weird madman, and that made me sigh in relief. But then I realized something, if this wasn't our target, then the other one...

"We...have to go there too don't we?" I thought, almost as if I was saying it to Atsuki. He didn't hear me, but he answered my question, because right then he began to move again to another floor. The fifth floor.

* * *

When we stepped in, the first thing I noticed was the garbage in front of the door. The entire floor was dim, and the paint was peeling off too...the whole atmosphere was seriously eerie to the max.

To my horror, Atsuki walked in front of the said door and opened it, and we were both greeted with a scary looking room, and some kind of darkness. Even though I don't have Sigma unlike Atsuki, I could feel it too...the _evil_...hiding in the dark. I thought I heard laughing...a horrifying laughter, and the sound of something growl...and my ears tell me that it's not playing tricks on me. The darkness seemed to be teeming with violence...waiting...like a hungry beast...waiting for it to strike its prey and tear it into shreds.

"Careful, Atsuki! A large Shinen is getting close!" I heard Natsuki from the phone.

I saw someone walking closer to Atsuki, every step made my heart beat faster, and when he came to view-

"Unfortunately, he wasn't the target...Silent infectees must have gathered here to die. I found one that was alive, but he wasn't the Original." it was Liu Yee, a person who works with Atsuki with the FORT. Thank goodness, for a second there, I thought I was about to die from fear. With everything happening all of a sudden, I forgot about the story's plot. I should hang on to that from now on, it would become useful if I were to survive in here...

"Atsuki...when did you become a Sweeper? Your job is finding infectees and targets right? Don't do that again." The man said to us, he thinks that he's talking to just Atsuki, but he has no idea-

"Liu, listen to me. You should tell us when you arrive!" Nola yelled from Atsuki's phone.

"I made securing the target my priority. When I got here, they were having a fall out. If I didn't hurry then all may have killed themselves." all of a sudden, Liu Yee disappeared, leaving only Atsuki, Nola and I in the dark room. Well, technically it was only Atsuki and I, since Nola was safe in the FORT...

"Okay, okay, I got it. You'll have plenty of reports to write...I look forward to them." and with that, Atsuki nodded and went out of the building.

The place looked the same when we've entered, but I felt like my whole life has changed from the past couple of minutes in there. I never wanted to do that again. _Ever_. But for now, if I really want that to happen, I have to figure out why I'm in the game first.

All of a sudden, a loud growl and a rustle came from the bushes. I was startled, but my body didn't move an inch. I guess I'm in the mercy of Atsuki's movements while I'm in the game.

A large Labrador suddenly appeared out of the bushes, and it sat down immediately after I heard a voice from where the dog came from. "No Melody, no!"

A girl with long, red hair and a simple, white t-shirt with a red and black neck-tie scampered out of the bushes from where the dog came from. She quickly noticed Atsuki, and I quickly recognized her. "Nami?" I gasped in surprise; I guess I should be happy that nobody could hear me at the moment.

"G-good evening..." Nami bowed her head and points to the 2nd floor apartment Atsuki and I were just in. "Um, mister...do you know? The guy on the second floor killed a bunch of animals. I'm gonna turn him in! So I came again with Melody to look for evidence." the dog barked at me, and then I did a mental face-palm. Of course, it's Melody. I should have known that sky blue scarf around Melody's neck anywhere. You know...that dog nearly scared me to death, well, that feeling is quite common today. _*Sigh*_

"But that guy...he never comes out of his apartment...it's like he's dead. That's what Melody says. What do you think?" I got the urge to say 'yes', but Atsuki intervened already.

"Maybe you're right." I heard Atsuki reply.

"So you have special powers too!" she said happily, I could sense something nice when she said those words. "I knew right away...because...Melody said so." the dog barked happily again and ran to a different direction. "Ah! Melody, wait!" Nami turned around and walked back to Atsuki. "I'm Nami Kamishiro!" she beamed. "I won't tell anyone about your powers. If someone finds out, you'll get bullied, like me." Nami chased after Melody as it ran up the stairs to the other apartment. As Atsuki and I watch Nami run to her dog, I felt a small tinge of regret; it most likely came from Atsuki. I also suddenly felt a light amount of worry from him, is it because Nami knows the fact that he has powers?

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry, but I was typing this as I was playing the game, and so, I had to cut this episode into two parts. And yes, I'm following the game script so far, but as soon as this episode goes to an end, that's when the real fun for me begins. _*snicker*_

I hoped you enjoyed chapter 1, because I got lazy to check it all out since I was rushing to type this all while Atsuki continued to talk. Cool, two updates in two hours. A new record! I shall put up the next part later on.

Please review! :3

**PS. Edits can come anytime in the chapters because while playing the game, I'm always screwing up present and past tenses. :(**


	3. Episode 00 Part 2: Pandora

Part 2

After the entire thing about the _'Death Shinen'_, Atsuki began to walk around another place, to my surprise. The more I dwelled with him, the more I keep forgetting the plot, at this rate, I might forget it all together, and all the shocking moments will haunt me mentally forever...yeesh...

Moving around, Atsuki continued to walk till we reached a bunch of shops...that were closed. It was night time after all, who would stay up at this late--

All of a sudden, I heard a few mumbles coming from a table nearby us. I spotted two chattering women coming closer to us, and I presumed that…they were drunk. But I wasn't that entirely sure because I've never seen a drunken person before in my life.

One of the girls was talking about..._*bleh*_...romance, and stuff. I don't know why they were walking towards us, but this kind of conversation is something that I truly wanted to avoid. Sadly, Atsuki didn't move anyway.

The two continued to talk more about guys and whatever, I was pretty sick of their chatter, but I had no choice other than to go on listening. Finally, they seemed to have noticed Atsuki and me going towards them. "Hey, boy!" the voice startled me, yet why did it sound so familiar..? "Do ya know what time it is? It's already...um...wait a second." both of them glanced at their wrist watches for a long time, I was right that they were drunk, because their eyes were squinting at their watches.

"Sorry, I guess we lovely ladies had a few too many. Well, it's already 1am. You should go home too." the other girl spoke up. Her outfit caught my attention, and then when I saw her face..."Mako..?"

"Mako's right, its 1am! 1am!" the other shouted back to the both of us. Of course, it was Yui. Why didn't I see it sooner? Wait, they got drunk again? _*Sigh*_...some people never learn, do they? "We're go-nna arrest you for being out so late, got it?" all of a sudden, she clutched her stomach and made a gesture that would make anyone flinch. "I-i feel sick..."

"Ugh...Yui, I told you..." Mako mumbled. Poor Yui, I guess she has a weak stomach like my dad...wait, my dad doesn't drink. "You okay Yui?"

"I...I think so..."

"Oof...we should really get home. Hey, come on Yui...we should really go..._now_." Mako began to wander off with her drunken companion, leaving the two of us alone again in the dark. Atsuki's feelings though didn't seem to change. I think he dismissed the whole situation as _'insignificant'_ or something. _*Sigh*_..."Now, where to next?" I asked him, even though I was sure he wouldn't hear me.

I felt Atsuki move around, as if he answered my question, and soon I found myself in a place that made my eyes widen. _Rainbow Hill_.

The area was even more beautiful than I've ever seen...the full moon shining in the dim sky with small, bright twinkling stars accompanying it, the clouds rolling gently by with the soft breeze...the ocean was also right in front of us, the waves could be barely heard, yet that made the place even more peaceful...and then, when I thought that we were alone in the night, I heard a poem along with the wind.

It sounded soothing...yet, for some reason, loneliness lingered in its tone. Glancing around, I saw a figure nearby the railings, he watched the ocean with a neutral expression, and it was most likely he who recited the poem just now...he was actually reading a poem under the moon...and he looked up, and his face looked like he was missing something...or someone...that was up there...in the heavens right now.

"Dream or phantom...one more time...show me your smile..." I heard the man mutter. When he stopped speaking, it was as if the world became silent along with him. The only sound was the ocean...and the man looked off to the distance once more. It felt as if it was hard for him to leave...or to stay, yet he walks away with sad eyes.

"Ah...good evening." out of the blue, I felt a weird presence...coming from him. It was strange...it reflected...some kind of sadness...

Without realizing it, another sudden wave hit me, and as soon as it came, it disappeared. "What the..? What happened to the thoughts..?" and then, before I knew it, the man was gone. "What the...did...Sigma fail to work?" I felt Atsuki turn his head and faced the moonlight. After a few seconds of standing there...in that spot, I felt my feet shift. It was time to leave.

* * *

We began to walk to somewhere far, to another area probably. And then, I found myself staring at an old church...

"Hm...not enough power?" suddenly, a large man appeared in front of the church-like building, trying to do something with a weird-shaped machine. He continued to talk to himself, looks like he hasn't detected us yet.

"Well...this will have to do. I think I'm done for today." the guy stands up from his crouching position and turns around. "Huh?" he noticed us, and approached Atsuki with a smile on his face. "Ah...what a night. I can't sleep...on nights like this. Are you taking a walk this nice autumn evening?" Atsuki continued to stay silent.

"Oh sorry...I'm not some kind of weirdo. I'm Reiji Takano. I teach history at the Kisaragi School." he continued to show his big grin at us. "Um...can I ask a question? I know it's sudden but...do you believe in powers that you can't see? Like demons and spirits, things like that."

I waited for Atsuki to respond, but he kept his mouth shut. At some point, I opened up my mouth, and when that happened, he began to speak. "Maybe..."

"Really! So you do believe! That's good to hear!" he beamed. I sensed a warm feeling all of a sudden, maybe Atsuki made him happy for saying that. "Heh...a lot of people make fun of me and don't listen. Ah...maybe I am a little too interested..." he turned around and pointed back at the weird gizmo.

"That machine's my third one, and it costs about _$50,000_ to make." his smile changed to a slight frown. "When I told my mom, she screamed my ears off...hehe." and then his grin came back. Yup, that's Mr. Takano all right.

"It's a machine that measures life energy called _'odo'_. Basically, it's a radar that can spot the unseen. On full moons like tonight, readings are more accurate...maybe it lacks power, or the cycle's off...but...the measurements are low...so I figured I'd call it a night." he paused, and gave even a bigger grin than before. "But tonight was great! I met another believer!" and then carrying his machine with his two big hands, he started to waddle home. "Well, see ya around boy." Mr. Takano said as he disappeared from Atsuki's view.

* * *

All of a sudden, when I closed my eyes and opened them again, I found myself staring at a large, red building, and an apartment nearby. Did I really doze off just then..? Hm...well, it has been a rough night...wait, it was morning when all this happened wasn't it? Gah...my memory's foggy...I left it to Atsuki to walk home.

We entered his house, and I could say it was pretty cool. A completely new apartment with furniture that seem to match Atsuki a lot. Maybe he's the one who asked for it...hm...

The sudden ringing jolted me out of my thoughts and back to reality...or...um...semi-reality.

"A message from the FORT..." Atsuki mumbled, and soon I began to hear Nola's voice again.

"Good work today." she started. "It's unfortunate that it wasn't the target but...one suspect has been eliminated, that's good." a pause, and then her voice came back once more. "One more thing, before Liu Yee entered the room, they were mailing someone. It's interesting..." another pause, is she making it dramatic or something? "Kisaragi School...you'll enroll there tomorrow." _school_...great, even though I am going to high school after summer, this wasn't how I thought of it. "What's a high school got to do with group suicides? You may be able to find something out...also; Shanghai had a similar case that was reported. The group suicides have the same motive as our target." I nodded in response, but Atsuki didn't seem to do anything. "You'll be briefed before school tomorrow morning, good night." and then we were disconnected.

"Oh man...even though it was around an hour or less...everything felt like an eternity before coming back here to rest..." I sighed. Unexpectedly though, Atsuki's steps lead me somewhere again, I don't remember this being part of the game--

"Oh my god..!" he was headed for the bathroom! All I could do was hopelessly watch as Atsuki headed for the shower and started to take his shirt off. I was seriously desperate--at this rate--

"_STOP ATSUKI!_" I screamed at the top of my lungs, hoping that he would hear me. Shockingly, it seemed to have done the trick, and I sensed Atsuki's guard went up. "Who are you?" he stated. I couldn't believe it; I...was talking to a game character!

"U-um...my name is--" I stopped. What was my name again..? Darn memory! I think it screwed up my most important ones when I got here!...great. "I can't remember my name..."

"Where are you?" most likely Atsuki didn't like wasting time, I tried to think of my choice of words before I spoke.

"I'm...a ghost?" the last word wasn't supposed to come out..! What the...I'm stuttering again..! Oh man...wrong timing!

"How come I can't see you?"

"Because...um...I'm...." gulping, I forced myself to say it. "I'm....in you."

"What?" his tone was surprising, actually, more of disbelief. "What are you talking about?"

"I-i don't know! I-it's like...I can see what you see...and I can see what you see with Sigma--"

"You _know_ about Sigma?" his tone now changed from surprise to worry, or maybe even angry. "H-how?"

"L-look, I know that your power is supposed to be a secret...but--" this was getting hard for me..."I...just don't know okay? I...want to go home..." we were quiet for a few moments, and then, Atsuki went out of the bathroom and lied down on his bed. "You...can you remember...at least something about your name?"

"Ah..." I rubbed my temples as much as I could, trying my best to--"Hikaru?"

"Is that your name?"

"N-no...I don't think so...but it's the only thing I've got." I stuttered.

"Alright then, we'll call you Hikaru." a pause. "So...how much...do you know?"

"About FORT, Sigma, your thoughts sometimes, Nola, Natsuki, Liu Yee, Aki--" I stopped myself there. I had nearly forgotten that Atsuki hasn't met everyone else yet, so I kept quiet. I also left out the part that I knew it all because this is just a game...actually, it doesn't feel like a game now...

Thankfully, Atsuki didn't seem to notice the last thing I was about to say. "You seem to know a lot Hikaru."

"Y-yeah..." now that Atsuki knows of my presence, I felt a lot better. It _is_ good to talk to someone when you're in a nasty predicament. "Atsuki...I was hoping...that you would know what happened to me..."

"Well...first of all, are you really a ghost?"

"Um...I don't think so. I don't remember dying..." my memory was seriously blurred. The only thing I remember is playing my DS inside the room alone..."It's liked I was somehow sucked from another dimension..." I mumbled.

"Hm...I can't...sense your Shinen." Atsuki muttered back.

"Because I'm inside you?"

"Probably."

"You do realize that I can see everything you're doing right?"

"Yes."

"...you're awfully calm for one who just realized that there is someone else here. And by the way, I'm a girl."

"I figured that out. And...yes, it was surprising at first, but...you can't do anything but accept it." I couldn't help but mumble 'so cool' when he said that. What can I say, I somewhat adore him.

"So...now what?" I asked.

"You'll have to join me in school tomorrow." I groaned. "Waah...it's still my summer vacation and I'm going to school already?"

"Don't complain. You're a part of me and you can't do anything about it." Atsuki replied back calmly. "And...I still need to shower you know."

"O-oh...right. I'll try to close my eyes as much as possible..." I did it, but my sight wasn't completely covered. "I think...you need to close your eyes to for me not to see anything." I heard Atsuki sigh. "Alright...I'll try."

* * *

A/N: And...yeah. That's the end of episode 00. Episode 1's coming up, and I'm there with him to school! Ugh. At least, I'm with Atsuki. ^w^ Sorry if the story's a bit messed up, I'm still rushing honestly, so...I hope it wasn't that bad.

Please review!


	4. Episode 01 Part 1: Mystery

Episode 01 - Mystery

Opening my eyes slowly, I suddenly realized I was lying on the bed..._with Atsuki_. I was about to scream, and thankfully I reacted fast enough to cover my mouth. For some reason...I'm now floating...beside him. The more I hang around here, the more confusing it got. Yesterday, I couldn't see Atsuki at all, but I could feel his movement and even read some of his thoughts...now, I can't even see what he's dreaming about, or if he has any dreams at all.

Staring at the ash-haired teen, I noticed that Atsuki's face scrunched up a bit, his hands grew tense..."Atsuki..." I mumbled. I figured he was having a nightmare...if only I could remember what the nightmare was about...maybe I could help him out.

Atsuki continued to show signs of pain, I hated to see him like this, it just...wasn't right. "Atsuki..?"

To my shock, he sat up, awake, and panting heavily. I sweat running around his body..."Um...are you alright?"

"H-huh..?" his head turned to where I was sitting, and nodded. "Yeah...I'm okay..."

"Atsuki...what was the dream about?" I said it slowly; I didn't want him to get mad at me...

He rubbed his left arm; I guess he had more worrying thoughts in his mind than to answer my question. "I-it's okay...you don't need to answer..." I stuttered. Out of the blue, I heard ringing coming from the desk beside him. It was his cell phone...I nearly forgot that Nola was supposed to give him a briefing before we went to school.

_School_...ugh. Oh well, at least I'm with Atsuki. Suddenly, I mentally squealed, and I got a feeling like it was a dream come true...it felt so cool to be beside someone that I previously thought didn't exist yet wished he was. The feeling...was _great_..!

"Good morning. Sleep well?" I heard Nola's voice. "Okay, let's start the briefing!" I sighed, and I thought I saw Atsuki sigh too. Smiling, I listened to what the blond had to say.

"Target, age and sex are unknown. Only that they have a love for art. FORT intelligence is confident that the target is in Kisaragi. It's the same place where the Shanghai incident started..." I nodded. "That man infected 10,000 people in just three months. As a result, thousands of crimes and suicides have occurred..." weirdly, that didn't surprise me, like I knew that already. "We found him and checked, and he wasn't the Original infectee. Someone else infected him with Silent. Checking the infection path, we found Kisaragi City...the man in Shanghai was infected there." a pause.

"Your job is to find and confirm any Silent infectees. Last night's incident seems to be Silent-related. I wonder who they were trying to contact? They sent mail to your new school, right Atsuki?" I saw Atsuki nod. "It's a good opportunity, look into that for me okay? If we find anything new, we'll contact you. We'll check out the girl from yesterday too." Nami..? I haven't told Atsuki about Nami yet..."It's creepy that she knew you had powers. If you find anything by Sigma let us know." at that last note, we were disconnected from FORT.

"Briefings sound pretty boring if you ask me." I mumbled aloud by accident.

"Yet they are important for the mission Hikaru." Atsuki replied back coolly.

"Yeah...but it feels like I already knew all that info--"

"Really..? So you know about the Shanghai incident before too?" I nodded in response, and then Atsuki jumped out of the bed. "Are you sure...that you don't remember anything?" gulping, I nodded once more, and then the teen was quiet after that.

I then realized something. "Can you sense my Shinen?"

Atsuki was still silent, yet I thought I saw a flash of surprise in his eyes. I was sure of it; he could sense my Shinen now too. Which means he can read my thoughts...

"I have to be more careful now, if Atsuki knows too much about what's going to happen, the results could be disastrous..."

* * *

Atsuki glanced at the mirror before we left to go to school. He was in his school attire which included a long-sleeved, brown uniform with a long collar, a blue tie, a white undershirt with a turtle-neck and matching brown pants. His black eyes stared at the mirror for a few moments, and then he opened his mouth. "Let's go."

We went outside and as soon as we stepped out of the apartment building, a light breeze flew by, ruffling Atsuki's ash-colored hair a bit. We weren't late...I suppose, but Atsuki still ran to the school anyway.

The city wasn't as big as I thought...or I guess the school wasn't that very far. At least it was a walking distance from where we were...

"Good morning Ms. Matsumura!" I heard another student said. "Hello! Good morning to you as well!" another voice replied happily.

From our view, I saw a person standing in front of the gate. She had long, light reddish-pink hair and red eyes, her outfit was a simple long-sleeved, beige vest with a chocolate colored undershirt.

The teacher (At least I think she is one,) had a serious expression on her face, making sure that each student that passed through the gate was looking at her in the eye. All of a sudden, she stops two students holding hands..."Hey you..! What do you think you're doing?" the mushy atmosphere around the two disappeared immediately, and the two apologized, split up and ran into the school.

"I've never seen you before..!" she suddenly said. At first I was puzzled, was she talking to us? She went closer to Atsuki with a big smile. "I transferred here today." I heard Atsuki reply.

"Oh, I see...nice to meet you." a fluffy feeling emanated from her. I guess I can still sense Sigma at work. "I'll introduce myself; I'm the language teacher, Aoi Matsumura. I hope you'll like it here!" all of a sudden, Ms. Matsumura's cheeks grew red, and when she noticed it, she started to talk again. "Aah...Aoi is still the same as always." I muttered. Atsuki glanced at me for a second, and looked back at the teacher again.

"Uh...um...it must be hard to transfer this time of year." I could tell she was pretty much grasping...hehe. Then I heard another student greet the teacher again, she greeted back happily, with a big grin on her face. "Oh yeah...your new teacher, Mr. Yamato isn't here today. If you need anything, let me know right away." she continued to smile. "I hope you'll enjoy our school!" and then she went back inside the building, leaving Atsuki and I in front of the fountain.

"So...are we supposed to be heading to class?" I asked sheepishly. It still felt strange talking with him...

"Not yet...we still have some time." he replied whispering. I think I can't talk to anyone besides Atsuki, and he's aware of it too...so the only person who knows that I'm here is Atsuki..._*blush*_...

* * *

We decided to look around, we both haven't forgotten the mission we were supposed to do--oh, I mean Atsuki was supposed to do, so we chose to look around the school campus, hoping to get some clue...somewhere.

At some point we found ourselves in the PC room...entering it, the place seemed deserted...until I noticed there was a guy typing on one of the computers. He kept typing, not noticing us at all, and he seemed to be working on something...

"Okay, finished." he said. Standing up from his seat, the purple-haired student grabbed his laptop and starts to walk towards the exit, at that point, he noticed Atsuki. "Hey! You studying too?" the first thing that caught my interest was his messy purple hair and his sapphire colored eyes. This guy...who was he again..?

"I haven't seen you around...are you new?" his neutral face turned into a bored expression. "Well, whatever. We've just met so no point in discussing that." his face changed again. "Okay, I'll hurry!" he mumbled, and accidentally pushed Atsuki as he ran out to the hallway.

"Ow! I felt that!" I shouted, annoyed.

"Hikaru..."

"Sorry!" I could tell Atsuki was thinking about something, so I chose to stay quiet first. Though..."Atsuki...that guy we've just met..." I think I snapped him out of his thoughts, because he seems to be staring at me intently now. "You know him?"

"I-i think so...his name...is..." I tried my best to remember, my memories were really blurry now, but I was able to fish out the guy's first name. "Shinji."

"...that's all?"

"I-i'm sorry...ever since I've been talking to you--no wait, even before that, my memory has been very foggy...I have a feeling I should know more about him...I just...can't..."

"It's okay..." he said calmly. "I'll check out the Residual Shinen Hikaru...alright?" Atsuki began to look around, sensing the new Shinen that was left on the PC. I recall something what Nola said, that they sent the mail here...Shinji…did he--

A large wave hit me again, it was _Sigma_. And I could feel the Shinen being erased, and somehow...decoded. I don't know...it just felt that way...and that's the only word I could think of.

Words started to swim in my head once more, they were about the mail...but they weren't exactly what the FORT was after. Shinji...simply discovered it. He didn't have anything to do with it, and that also somehow didn't surprise me. I hate it, the info's coming late, if I knew this stuff earlier, I wish I could just know instead of mumbling _'I knew that!'_ when it's too late. _*Sigh*_...how annoying. If this really is the game, maybe it's some kind of security stuff that makes me forget so I won't interfere with the storyline...hm...

"Atsuki...Shinji didn't--"

"I know...Hikaru, I'm the one with Sigma, not you." that made me flinch. "Sorry."

The teen walked to the computer and checked the data. Sadly, Shinji must have deleted the mail. So we're pretty much back to square one, with one suspect eliminated...or at least, I think so.

* * *

A/N: So, once again, I had to cut this into two parts...for now. I had forgotten how long Episode 1 was so it might stretch to three parts...

I'm still following the game script as always, though there might have been a few I changed 'cause of errors and stuff. I'm trying my best not to skip anything, because, there are some people out there who are reading this even though they don't know Lux-Pain...

*Sigh*...so that means a lot more work for me. I think it took me around two hours to finish this chapter, and now I have a headache again.

So...please review!


	5. Episode 01 Part 2: Mystery

Part 2

"Really, the more I hang around here, the more my mind's getting messed up Atsuki." I whined as I continued to float beside him. We were simply walking down the hall and it was quite noisy too with all the people and voices coming around. I only noticed now that I couldn't see myself either, which felt seriously awkward. If I can't see my own hand, Atsuki can probably only hear my voice as well. "I'm one hundred percent sure that I knew Shinji, but it's like...something's interfering with my memories..."

"Yet somehow, you were able to recognize the teacher at the gate like she was an old friend of yours." the teen muttered back. I nodded, and then I realized I don't have a body. "Yeah...the only time it's coming back to me is that when I see the person."

"That isn't very helpful."

"I'm trying the best I can alright?" for a second, I thought I saw Atsuki smirk at me, which made me even more annoyed. "Where are we going anyway?"

"To the Art Room." he stated simply. Even at his normal voice, it was a little hard to hear him through everyone else. So most likely nobody would care that the new transfer student would look like he was talking to an invisible being...

"Huh? Why?" I asked.

"Don't you remember Nola saying that our target has a love for art?" he reminded.

"Oh. Right...sorry." it was an irritating habit of mine to apologize a lot. It stuck with me, so I can't really do much about it. "Well, let's go then!" I beamed enthusiastically. At that point, I could have easily imagined Atsuki doing a mental-facepalm. "Oh yeah!" I suddenly piped up; a sudden memory hit me.

"What?" Atsuki questioned.

"Aoi said our teacher's supposed to be Mr. Yamato right?"

"So..?"

"I dunno. All I know is that he's a very dangerous and mean guy."

"And..?"

"We have to be really careful around him Atsuki. As I recall...he was infected." the last word made the ash-haired teen jump a little. "With Silent?" I could tell his voice was filled with a sudden urge to know. "Uh huh...but I'm not sure okay?"

"But that's a good start. I'll ask Nola to check on him later." he smiled at me. "You're pretty useful after all."

"Thanks-hey!" he lightly chuckled, then proceeded to the room we're supposed to go.

* * *

We went to the upper floor and found ourselves in front of the sliding door. Atsuki opened it, and we saw only one female student in the room. She seemed to be painting something, and hasn't noticed us yet. There wasn't anyone else there, besides us. The only sound I could hear was her brush moving around the canvas. Then, she stops, placed the brush back into a small dark brown bottle and checks the entire painting for any errors. At that point, she noticed both of us at the door; surprise clearly written on her face. "Good morning..." she starts. The student had long, red hair, her bangs reaching past her shoulders. Her brown eyes stared at Atsuki and a small smile made her look like a nice person. She wore the usual school uniform: A white, turtle-neck undershirt with a blue tie, a brown, collared, long-sleeved shirt and a matching skirt with a blue outline.

"You're here early...are you going to paint something?" she asked. I knew her, but again, I had forgotten her name...

"But...hm..? Have we met before?" she asked again. Atsuki simply stayed silent and stared at her, which is kind of creepy. "We haven't right..?"

"We haven't." I heard Atsuki reply, a small smile forming.

"You're a transfer student!" she exclaimed lightly; her hand close to her lips. "The teacher said we would have one today." the student beamed.

"I'm Yayoi Kamishiro. Nice to meet you classmate!" oh yeah! Yayoi...I can't believe I had forgotten Nami's sister! Wait, actually I can believe that. "I'm Atsuki Saijo. Nice to meet you as well." he replied coolly. "I have been meaning to ask why are you painting here so early in the morning." 

"Waaah...so cool~" I thought to myself with my eyes gleaming.

"I'm here because Arthur may be coming back soon." Yayoi closed her eyes in thought._ Arthur_...he sounds familiar. If that's the case, then maybe we've met him earlier..? Note to self: Talk about it with Atsuki later. "Arthur Mays...world famous modern artist." she added.

"Famous..?" Atsuki asked.

"Yes, his works are amazing...he works as a substitute teacher here." she answered. Her face then lit up a little. "What an opportunity! To study under someone as famous..."

Out of the blue, Yayoi's mood dropped so low that I could detect her sadness from her Shinen. "Recently he's been sick though...and hasn't come to school."

Only then I noticed that Atsuki's eyes were looking at something else instead of the girl in front of him. He was looking at a painting not far from where they were standing. I tried to focus on it like he did, and then I realized why was staring at it so intently. There was a Residual Shinen there too. A fleeting...but dark and bent Shinen from it. It made my skin crawl, but I hid it as fast as I could.

I suddenly felt a weird sense over my mind. _Sigma_...again. Atsuki began to scrape of the worm from the painting, and while he was at it, he was able to see one in Yayoi too. Time for the words to swirl in my head again...I braced myself for what was to come.

It began, but this time it wasn't so bad. It was simply her first impression of Atsuki, and it was a nice one too. There was something that made me flinch a little though, part of those thoughts were something about Nami...and what happened last night. She didn't know about the incident, but she did know about Nami searching for clues with Melody.

Another wave hit me, and this time it was about..._colors_...it felt strange, but I sensed like everything was beginning to fade; that wanting for all to lose its color, for it to lose its existence. It was really eerie...but that wasn't the end of it. After the second one, a bigger thing, larger than the other two came in my head. There was only one thing I could understand. _'Arthur has changed.'_

I think Yayoi has noticed the few seconds (but felt like minutes to me) of silence between the two students. "Oh yeah! I'm on duty today...I'll be in the classroom okay? See you later Atsuki!" she then runs past him while waving, disappearing out of view after going down the stairway.

"Yayoi Kamishiro..." I muttered to myself. I noticed only now that Atsuki was spacing out on me once more, thinking hard about what just happened with those two Shinen. "The man yesterday was Arthur..." the teen suddenly mumbled aloud. He looked at me to see if he was right, and I nodded automatically in return, forgetting again that both of us couldn't see me. Weirdly enough, he understood, but then his cell phone began ringing. And as I expected, it was from Nola. "Here comes the speech again..." Atsuki glared at me, but ignored it and flicked his phone open and placed it beside his ear.

* * *

"Have you found the info on the mail's recipient?" she asked. Atsuki said no in reply. "How about the boy on the computer that morning?" wait, how did she know that? Yet he had simply told her that he wasn't involved with the entire situation due to the Residual Shinen. The ash-haired teen then reported that since Shinji erased the e-mail in question, he had certainly seen it.

"I see...let's follow these two routes. One, if he's not the recipient, then someone in the school is and we've got to find them as soon as we can." she paused. "Two, follow that boy and read his thoughts. We need to find out what that mail's content were." by then I could swiftly imagine a small smile on her face afterward. "Okay Atsuki. Work on those." then the call was disconnected. And as if on cue, the bell rang, signaling that all of the students had to get to class already. Atsuki then closed his cell phone, slipped it in his pants pocket and ran through the hallway, soon stopping at the door that they were supposed to be at. "I'm really not in the mood to go to class Atsuki..." I complained.

"_Hikaru._" his voice was serious, and a little bossy. "We have to. So stop whining about it."

"Eh..!"

"_No. Complaining._ Now be quiet. I don't want my grades to drop simply because of you disturbing me."

"But-!" I had to shut my mouth with my hand to stop myself from talking any further. I don't want to upset him...even though we're only going to stay in this school for, I don't know, one or two months? I don't even know why he used grades as an excuse. It didn't matter; he had already slid the door open anyway, earning surprised gasps from his classmates since he was a transfer student.

Let the first day of class with Aoi Matsumura begin.

**

* * *

A/N :** I have read over the entire story, and I've noticed that some parts don't make any sense. ^ ^;; So I tried to see if I could answer those parts in this chapter, but I'm not sure if I got all of it. The 'apologizing' habit is really a part of me by the way. This is a self-insert story right? And if there are mistakes there involving tenses, I apologize for that too since well, the game's in the present tense while my writing's in the past. It's pretty easy to screw up when you copy. XD

Please review~


	6. Episode 01 Part 3 : Mystery

**A/N : **Okay...first of all, I did not intend to make it this lengthy...but I thought as I continued playing the game that the day would end soon and I can draw the Episode to a close. Little did I know that there were many more things to come, and that a _Part 3_ wouldn't be enough to fill the whole thing. I realized that too late though, and I ended up making this chapter like...what, 4000 words long?

I guess this is also a apology gift for not updating. It's just that I get kind of distracted easily and I got bored just following the plot...but what can I do? The last time I've played Lux-Pain was about a year ago and well...I can't remember much of the plot at all. What Hikaru remembers is the bits of info that I recall too...anything farther, nope. Not much.

Anyway, I've stalled you long enough. This chapter would cover the rest of the day at school...and yeah, I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Part 3

"Good morning everyone!" Aoi smiled as Atsuki sat on a random empty seat in the room; eyes staring at him when he rested his hand on his chin. Since I didn't know where to stay, I just ended up floating right beside him, and I felt weird in doing so. The teacher scanned the room all of a sudden, and a flash of disappointment was seen in her eyes. "Oh, it looks like Naruse isn't here." she muttered. The teen stayed silent, yet I still told him that Naruse was Shinji's last name, and then I saw him take a glimpse at me. Phew, at least he still acknowledges me here. Now I remember Shinji's full name...this _'late'_ info process is officially annoying me. "Well then, everyone take good notes and show them to the absentees later."

Out of the blue, a girl student slid the door open and rushed inside, stopping in front of Ms. Matsumura. She had blue hair and matching eyes, and she wore the school uniform like Yayoi did, dismissing the fact that her tie was replaced with a green ribbon. She was panting hard as she leaned on the door first before standing up again and looking at Aoi with pleading eyes. "One of those people I should know again..." I murmured, irritated at the fact of my blurry memory. The ash-haired teen glanced at me again, yet this time he was a little more concerned about what I said. "Wait..." I then realized something. "you didn't tell Nola about Mr. Yamato!" I shouted because I knew that nobody would hear me. Surprisingly, Atsuki still had that neutral expression on his face and just shrugged. "It slipped my mind." he said mildly.

"Man...you're more forgetful than I thought you would be." I mumbled.

"Oh Nozaki, you weren't here either?" Aoi's voice snapped me out and turned back to the two.

"Ms. Matsumura, Ryo's late too!" another girl spoke up from her seat. Instead of the usual school outfit, she was wearing a long-sleeved beige sweater, yet still had the blue tie around her neck. She had long blonde hair, black eyes, and red glasses.

"What? Oh my oh my...is that so? I'm so sorry!" she apologized. "Ryo wasn't here either..." she smiled sheepishly as her cheeks grew red from embarrassment. Suddenly, Aoi turned to Atsuki, her blush still lingering. "You've just got here and I've already embarrassed myself. After that...I'm a bit afraid to ask but Saijo, what do you think of the school?"

I then turned to him for the response. He blinked once, and then shrugged to the teacher. "I'm still not sure to be honest."

"Well, this is your first day after all..." she replied.

"But I think this school's nice." he added, and that made her smile.

"That's good. Now let's start the lesson!" she beamed, and then Ms. Matsumura realized something. "Saijo, do you have your textbook?" she asked. Atsuki swiftly reached into his bag and pulled out a large book, almost the same size like mine when I had Reading class. "Great, now open your books to page 276..."

* * *

Finally, the bell had rung once again to my satisfaction. I've never heard so many poems about love my entire life. If it was at my school, it would have never been so...fluffy? "And on that note, we'll stop here for today." she grinned. "Saijo, if you need help with anything from today, I'll be in the staff room. Come see me anytime." she then focused her attention to the entire class. "Next time we'll continue with _'Rashomon'_ so don't forget to study!" with that, she left the classroom, and already the blue-haired girl from awhile ago approached us.

"You're the new kid? Nice to meet you! I'm Mika Nozaki!" she smiled. "Mika...oh. Okay, I remember her now..." I thought. By then a bunch of info was coming back to me, but it wasn't much...

"Ms. Matsumura's class is pretty deep isn't it? Her lessons are so good because she's so diligent." then her smile grew a little. "She can get easily sidetracked though...if it's something about love, she'll go on and on and on..." Mika sighed. "Sadly, we're gonna be doing love poems for a while..." I groaned. It's sort of okay, but I think I've had enough about that for one week. "Next class, she'll probably start from the same place!" I groaned again, this time louder so Atsuki shot me a glare.

"It's kinda rare anyway. It'll get easier again soon enough." she then looked at the door. "I have to go now, see ya!" she beamed as she turned away from us and leaves the room.

"More romance..? Ugh." I whined. When Atsuki was about to respond, Aoi suddenly came back in and went directly to our seat. "How was your first class? Are you tired? It must be hard adjusting to a new school." she babbled. It was easy to she was stuttering again, but she quickly recovered and showed us a big smile again. "Please take your time getting used to the new surroundings okay?"

"Sure..." Atsuki replied.

"Oh right, I forgot!" she piped up. "Please wait a minute!" she told us, and then she ran to another part of the classroom.

"Uh...what do we do now?" I asked. The teen just shrugged and got up from his seat. Aoi then came back to us with someone familiar tagging along with her. "What's up?" she said loudly. She was the same person that spoke up awhile ago..."Rui Yamase..." I mumbled. Atsuki caught what I said, and smirked in gratitude.

"Huh? Whaa..? You're the new kid...Saijo right?" she asked, surprise on her face. Rui then shifted her gaze on to her teacher. "And you want me to..?"

"I'd like you to show him around during lunch." Aoi grinned.

"Hmph. Fine...I guess. Well, whaddya wanna see?" then Ms. Matsumura cut in. "No Yamase...not _'what'_; show him everything." she said with a frown.

"Okay, you got it!" Rui smiled. "...since you teach and take care of us and stuff." she added. "Well, let's go!"

Out of the blue, she grabbed Atsuki by the arm, and started to drag him off the room. As I recall, Rui usually does this to people, yet before I followed him out, I noticed Aoi's face turning beet red as she watched the two go. I laughed; maybe hanging around with Atsuki would be more fun than I thought it would be.

* * *

The blonde girl continued to pull him along the hallway as I followed them. Soon, we were outside and I could feel the wind on my face...wait huh? I thought that I was still some sort of weird floating invisible being. How can I feel the wind? Meh, never mind. I'll ask Atsuki about that later. For now I was simply following him until we were all in front of a building that was smaller than the main school structure.

When we went inside, I was taken aback at how huge the place was. This was supposed to be just a café for students...but come on, if this were in my school, this place would be _luxury_!...or something.

The area was pretty noisy since there were so many students hanging around here having coffee breaks and such. It must be nice to relax in here...

"This is the café room. Pretty cool, huh?" Rui said. "I'll say; this place is amazing..." I replied, but of course she didn't hear that.

"Usually everyone hangs out here, but..." out of the blue she scanned the area like she was searching for someone. Actually, she was, and soon her eyes rested on this one person reading a book quietly in the back. "Ah, there he is!" she exclaimed.

"_Hey, Ryo Unami! Come here for a sec!_" I noticed that the same guy she was talking to-err, shouting to smiled as he closed the book he was reading. He stood up from his chair and started to say something, but laughed and shook his head as if he was thinking otherwise. I recalled him being a very calm person, but I do remember also something about his passion for literature...

I was soon able to get a closer look at him when he was near us. He had messy dark blue hair, matching colored eyes, and was wearing the school uniform like everyone else. "I've been meaning to ask you..." he started, which struck me as weird since well, nobody starts with that line of conversation when you just met right? "Who are you supposed to be with that weird voice?" it only hit me then that he was talking to Rui instead of Atsuki. The blonde girl did use her voice in a lower tone when she was calling for him.

I decided not to listen to their conversation and focused my attention at the ash-haired teen. "Uhm...Atsuki?"

"_Yes_?" he whispered as low as he could. The lip movement was enough though for me to know what he said. "N-nothing...Ryo's looking at you now."

He made a small motion with his head and his eyes rested on the two other people. "Well...she's made this a strange first meeting." the dark blue-haired man chuckled. "My name's Ryo Unami. We're in the same class if you haven't noticed." he smiled at him and continued his little introduction. "I run a bookstore in Area 7 called Tohodo. No comics or magazines though...just lots of rare books."

"_Area_? What do you mean area?" I cut in, but nobody heard me anyhow.

"You can visit some time if you're interested."

"Sure, I'll see if I have the time to. My name's Atsuki Saijo." the teen replied, which made Ryo's smile even bigger. Looks like my only friend ignored me too. _*sigh*_

"If Ryo gets a hold of you Atsuki..." the blonde started. "It's _Old Rome_ this and _Middle Age architecture_ that...nothing but history." we both heard Ryo chuckle again at her comments. "He'll talk about all kinds of weird stuff."

The guy laughed. "You make too much of it Rui. If the person I'm talking to doesn't have the knowledge of what I'm speaking about, then I can't go on."

"Huh? _Knowledge_? Well, I guess you're right there." she glanced around the café. "You don't to just anybody at length. You never even talk to Mika or me about difficult stuff."

"Haha, you girls can't help but block it out anyway." Ryo countered. "Alright, I'll be going now. Bye."

* * *

After lingering in the café for a while, the three of us were on the hallway to our next destination when someone shouted something that made me cringe. "_Ahh_! Why is Rui Yamase with Atsuki Saijo? Oh my gosh oh my gosh, are you two going out?" she screamed.

I gaped. "_What_? Of course not!" I yelled back for no reason. I glanced at the ash-haired teen for a reaction, but surprisingly there wasn't one.

"Huh? What the..?" Rui's reaction seemed to be slower than mine.

"Don't play dumb!" the blue-haired girl continued. "I have evidence!" she went on a odd pose all of a sudden, with her pointer finger in front of the blonde's face. "Last night, Yamase and Saijo were kissing-"

Out of the blue, the girl did a low kick on the other. "_Ouch!" _she winced. "Rui! I can't believe you actually hit me!"

"Oh _shut up_ Mika!" she replied. "Don't just make stuff up because there's no news!"

She winked at Atsuki. "Hehehe...sorry. I was simply messing around, that's all." suddenly, she smirked. "But actually, I do have a scoop. A _big_ one."

"Oh really?" the blue-haired girl moved closer and then whispered something that I couldn't make out. I really wanted to find out what they were talking about. But something in my head was nagging at me, like I was supposed to know what they were mumbling about. How annoying, I can't remember again. The small groan I made seemed to get Atsuki's attention. Yet as soon as the two girls faced each other with weird faces, _(I dunno how to describe it honestly.) _Mika quickly left; leaving the three of us alone again.

Before she was out of sight though, Rui shouted at her. "You're not going to cut class again are you?"

"I'll be fine Rui! See ya!" she replied.

As soon as she was out of ear-shot, our guide giggled. "She's kinda funny isn't she? Mika Nozaki, future journalist. She works for a local station here named Seagull. Pretty cool huh?" she paused and looked around for a moment. "Okay, let's move on!"

Atsuki nodded, but then I felt a small, fleeting feeling. I felt this before...a Shinen? "From who?" I asked.

The words that came in next gave me the answer.

Emotions began to overflow in my head. Excitement, anticipation, whatever that would make anyone feel giddy about something. Mika...somehow, she was able to grab some information about yesterday's incident. The one that involved the guy killing a bunch of animals...and the suicidal group. What caught my attention was that it mentioned the place _'video arcade'_. What does an area like that have to do with these events? Was that the place where the people made contact or something?

"Hey Saijo! Hurry up!" Rui's voice snapped me back to reality. I turned to Atsuki with a concerned look on my face, and somehow, he seemed to know what I was puzzling about. "We will gather more information on the arcade when we have time Hikaru." he muttered softly.

"R-right..."

* * *

Throughout the tour, we went to the faculty room where we met a familiar face. I totally forgot that Mr. Takano, the strange guy that was studying _'odo'_ last night was a teacher in this school. Actually, I'm more surprised that I remembered the term that he told us in the first place. Aoi seemed to get mad at him frequently since the other people in the room looked like they were used to it. Poor Mr. Takano, he was forced to buy her lunch since he accidentally ruined the previous one. We didn't get much of a chance to talk to him 'cuz of that.

We also passed by the classroom we were in not long ago. It's where I finally met Akira face to face...sort of. He was sleeping when we found him, and it was kind of funny to watch Rui tickle the unfortunate guy to wake him up. "Gaah! What the-?" his reaction got me into a fit of giggles whereas Atsuki chuckled as well. That made me happy; at least he was smiling now. The green-haired guy seemed kind of grumpy that day, but I knew that he was a good person at heart. Atsuki realized this too...I think.

Our second to the last trip was to the nurse's office. Turns out that there was a student in there with the nurse. "_Honoka_...her name's Honoka as I recall. I have no idea about her last name. I just call her Honoka." I briefed to the teen. "She's a nurse, a really nice and kind one at that. Be careful though Atsuki, you would have to help her out later on with a Silent."

The last part was something I was supposed to keep in my head. Whoops. "Silent? She's infected too?"

"N-not now! I mean...I don't really know how to explain this, but I know she's going to need your help at a later time."

"...are you sure about this Hikaru?"

"Positive."

The orange-haired nurse was surprised when Rui came in with us. At that point the student, which I recall his name was Takuya already left. He was staring at Saijo before he was gone...eesh, creepy.

* * *

We ended in front of the fountain at the center of the school. Everything was really peaceful and quiet...the other students have already headed back to their classrooms. We were probably the only ones left outside.

"So...what do you think of our school?" Rui asked. Atsuki hesitated, but then he showed a sincere smile. "It's nice...I like it."

Wow, I have never seen Atsuki smile like this before. That face would make anyone feel relaxed and happy...I just wished that they actually showed it in the game. Woah, I haven't used that word in a while. _Game_...it slipped my mind that this wasn't real. But...how can I think of that now after all I've been through even though it has only been a day?

The blonde was really joyful when she heard the male teen's response. "I...I really like this school too." she beamed. "When I first came here I was like..._wow_..." Rui looked up at the many cool structures of the school. "You know...this school has a hundred-year history. Many people even call it _'The Tower'_."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah...I like to think of it as a cool, classy grandpa." Atsuki lightly chuckled at the comment. "Well, that is another way to put it." he replied. The both of us felt a strong love for the school emanating from Rui. It was obvious that she really liked this place.

All of a sudden, the bell rang loudly. "_Eh_? Break's over already?" she exclaimed; surprised. "O-oh no...I haven't eaten anything..."

"That goes the same for me..." the ash-haired teen muttered.

"I...I gotta get some bread at least!" she broke into a run, but then stopped and turned. "You should eat too! See you later Saijo!" and then she was out of sight.

"So...Atsuki?" I started. I noticed then that he wasn't listening to me and focusing his attention on something else. I then felt it too...a _Residual Shinen_. Like the one that Mika left in the corridor. "Ooh...I should keep quiet now right?"

Instead of an answer, he began to use Sigma instead. Pretty soon the wafting words went in to my mind once more. The good thing was...that the feeling was really nice. Expressing so much love and care for the school Rui was attending. Though...I did not expect...that her father..."Her dad..._died_?" how come I don't remember such a thing before?

"From her Shinen...that would be the case."

"She really likes you." I said while quickly changing the subject.

"First impressions are important."

"Heh, you're good at doing that."

"Years of experience." he said with a smirk. For some reason I didn't really like the answer he gave me. He has been doing this for a long time...that means he could be faking. But this is Atsuki we're talking about. He wouldn't do such a thing. Other people would do that though...that's why trust is important between humans.

* * *

After school, we started to search around for clues that could link to Arthur Mays...or the Shinen in the PC room. I don't know why, but Atsuki threw in the topic about how they felt about the school too. From Ryo...we didn't get much result...other than his thoughts on Atsuki in general. Of course...they were nice; good. He's doing a good job acting like a total enigma and caring person...which he is.

From Honoka, she was really worried about Arthur. She thought that the reason why the painter was sick was because of stress or something. I'm not completely sure about the entire thing, but the nurse just seemed concerned. I told my friend that she didn't have any relation to the incident, and he agreed with me.

We went back to the fountain, and I saw something on the ground. "Atsuki..." he glanced at me. "What is it Hikaru?"

"There's a notebook on the floor." I said while pointing at the cement floor.

The silver-haired male walked towards it, bent down and picked it up. He skimmed the pages of the dark-colored notebook and detected numerous insults written inside. "_Takuya Inoue_...he's the guy that was in Honoka's office." I mumbled as I read the back where the owner's name was marked on.

"We better return it to him then."

"Careful, the guy's dangerous."

"How so?"

"Well...not really physically dangerous, but he's some sort of _psycho_ guy. Yeah, something like that."

"Hah, then the more we need to use Sigma on him."

"I...I guess..."

The two of us headed next to the Computer Room and coincidentally bumped into the same person we were looking for. We showed him the item he dropped...and he wasn't happy. In fact, he was furious that we had it in the first place. Takuya glared at Atsuki with murderous intent. We did scan him, and his thoughts were just the same. He thought of him as a bully; trash; an enemy. Either way, he simply scowled at us and left the room.

"I told you he was psycho."

"He doesn't trust people…that's for sure."

The next area we walked to was the classroom. I expected it to be empty, but I overlooked again this was a game. If it were to be deserted, then there was no reason to go at all. So we ended up finding Akira in there, asking us why we were here and if we left something as a reason...or..."Do you have some business with me?"

"Not really. Were you expecting me to ask something from you?" that kind of did it...Akira seemed a little..._off_. Atsuki quickly used Sigma on him, and I sensed it: Rivalry...doubt...bad...really hurtful memories.

"Hmph, no I didn't. Stay outta my way." the green-haired male then left the classroom.

"It's just as Rui says...he's a really honest person."

"But...he didn't seem to like you as much." I muttered.

"He's been betrayed before...something hurt him really badly...enough to leave a deep shadow over his heart."

"Is it that easy to read his mind Atsuki?" he nodded. "Ah...anyway, do we have to go anywhere else?"

"One more...the faculty room. We'll try to get some information there."

"Okay."

We headed towards the last place we needed to look. Aoi was inside and seemed happy to see him here. We talked about some stuff...and she was still the same until we got to the topic about the PC...only a name appeared in her mind: _Shinji Naruse_. Some facts did come up from the scan...and with that, I found one of the things I forgot about Shinji. He was a hacker. A good one at that. He always loved to go into the really risky firewalls and etc..."He would go as far as to get through cyber securities in government lines to grab information and for the plain fun of it. I don't understand how hacking's fun though." I mumbled.

* * *

We left the area on that…and then decided to take a break.

"So what do we have Atsuki?" I asked him while we were resting on an azure blue bench nearby the fountain.

"So far...nothing much. Many of the students we've encountered don't seem to have a relation to the mail in the PC room...which means so far, none of them are the target."

"At least you got that part down."

"You knew the _entire time_?" he looked a little irritated that I never told him about that. "Well...I had to make sure didn't I?"

"We could have saved some time if you told me earlier rather than roam around the whole campus." the teen grumbled.

"_So~rry_..."

"If you were aware of that, then does that mean you know who the target is as well?" I paused. Honestly...I do. It's..._Lil_...I think. I'm not sure about her name, but I know it's her. She's the one that infected Arthur...and as I recall, Takuya as well. But how could I tell him that..? If I did, it would mess up the story of the game...and I already made myself promise I would not change it as much as possible...even if it meant the death of others...I shook my head. What was I thinking? This is the chance for me to save them! The only time where I can finally do something instead of fantasizing it in my head all the time!...but is it right? That's the tricky part...how much will it affect the future if I do keep them alive? Will it be for the good or for the worse? I always hated thinking about those kinds of stuff.

"_Hikaru_." his voice made me look at him and push my thoughts away.

"D-did you use Sigma on me?" I questioned cautiously. It only came to me now that he could have read my mind. No..! If he finds out...

"...that's impossible." I was shocked. "W-what do you mean..?"

"I can't sense your Shinen Hikaru." that caught me heavily off-guard.

"B-but this morning-your expression...huh? S-so you never sensed it? _At all_?" the teen seemed a little amused by my confusion. But this was serious, and that feeling faded almost immediately. "I was surprised that you were talking to me like a living being, yet you don't show signs of having a Shinen. Even dead spirits can hold at least a Residual one...but you didn't have any."

I inwardly sighed in relief. That's good...so he doesn't know. And for now he has no way of figuring it out.

"Still, your expression was easy to read. You're hiding something from me." I kept silent and bit my lip. "Why can't you tell me?"

"...i-it's...for your own good Atsuki." I managed to say. But really, was it good for him? My head was pounding from all the questions and doubts. _Headache_...why now? I hate headaches...they drive me nuts. They don't allow you to use the computer or the DS...and it annoyed me. In this case, it prevented me from thinking straight.

"We'll settle this another time." the ash-haired teen said while standing up. "For now, we have to gather more data."

"Alright...lead the way."

* * *

**A/N : **I hope you didn't die out of boredom along the way...to make it up to you, the next's chapter's an intermisson...ish thing. Yeah, you'll just have to see for yourself.

Please Review~! Especially if you read everything~...please?

I think...that a Part 7 could be anticipated in the following chapters. They weren't kidding when they said it was an Episode...*groans* It's so looong...


	7. Intermission

**A/N : **Uuh, feel free to read this...it's more of a warm-up after being stuck in a rut for so long in many places. Feel free to comment...

* * *

Intermission

Hikaru : Hey everybody! It's me Hikaru! And don't worry; I brought Atsuki with me too!

Atsuki : _*groans*_

Hikaru : Don't whine Atsuki! Anyhow, I am here today to answer the basic questions of the game Lux-Pain. Think of it as a guide for curious people who know about this game and think that this game is terribly confusing and all that stuff...you know, I don't even get why most people don't get it.

Atsuki : Besides all the typos...

Hikaru : *nod* So let's get started shall we?

**Question 1** : What is Lux-Pain all about?

Hikaru : Lux-Pain is about a guy named Atsuki Saijo who has the power of Sigma...he can read the minds or specifically, the Shinen of an individual and has the mission of erasing Silent from his newly assigned area Kisaragi City. In a sense, Silent is some sort of 'worm' that enters something (most often humans) and can drive the being to do dark and evil things. Like murders, robberies, tortures and etcetera. Lux-Pain is actually the ability (dunno the word XD) implanted inside Atsuki and few others who have survived it that can destroy Silent...but not in a huge scale. Basically in the game, you have to control Atsuki as he roams around Kisaragi City, meet all kinds of people and find a way to save the place from shadowy intentions...

Atsuki : Hold up, this game is about me?

Hikaru : ...uuh, no it isn't. _*sweatdrop*_

Atsuki : But you just stated my name and described Sigma-

Hikaru : _*hits him with a memory-erasing stick from Megamind*_ Okay now that's over with (I totally forgot that Atsuki doesn't know he's a game character -.-') Let us continue!

**Question 2** : How do you play the game?

Hikaru : Well the game is generally a Digital Novel, which means that you mostly have to read in this game and not much action stuff go on. The basis of this game's gameplay is when Atsuki uses Sigma where he can find Shinen and Residual Shinen (In the form of yellow glowing worms...) then decode it. The thing is when he does that, they don't come in sentences, but more in words; phrases. It's like broken pieces of feelings...or something of the sort. There is also a part in where you have to fight the bosses which are Silent. In that part, you pretty much have to figure it out all on your own, but it's pretty easy since you just need the stylus to beat him. In the story there's going to be a whole lot more action than in the games. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't play it! Moving around the city is a cinch too, but you have to be careful in how you're doing the order since it can affect the game's ending.

**Question 3** : How many 'Episodes' are there?

Hikaru : This question actually concerns this fic's length...and well, sadly for the author, there are about 20 episodes to finish. One episode for one day. This is why the author was complaining about how long this first episode's gonna drag. _*laughs*_ I don't think she was kidding though about there being a Part 7 sooner or later...

**Question 4** : Are there going to be major parts of the plot changing here?

Hikaru : Here's the thing, the author told me that she had to restrict herself from playing Lux-Pain ever again unless it is for continuing this story. Simply put, she can't really remember everything that happens and doesn't even recall the other big details of the plot. And so, it's most likely that there wouldn't be many changes at all...except for me being here of course. So try not to expect too much okay?

**Question 5** : Is Hikaru really a Self-Insert?

Stephy : It's a yes and no.

Hikaru : Hey when did you get here? This is supposed to be my segment!

Stephy : Yeah but this question is for me to answer.

Hikaru : Hmph.

Stephy : To answer this, she's sort of a Self-Insert, but as you can plainly see, she also can move around freely without my consent.

Hikaru : The problem is that my memory about Lux-Pain is now as bad as hers.

Stephy : It's not my fault for being forgetful.

Hikaru : Uuh, yes it is.

Stephy : Whatever.

Atsuki : Ugh...who are you?

Stephy : Um, Hikaru?

Hikaru : _*hits Atsuki again with the stick*_ Got him.

Stephy : Good. He shouldn't know about all this stuff yet anyway. Who's idea was it to bring him here in the first place?

Hikaru : _*whistles*_

**Question 6** : Is Atsuki going to figure out he's a game character?

Stephy : I dunno. I'm still kind of debating about that.

Hikaru : Isn't that spoiling?

Stephy : Not...really...

**Question 7** : How are you planning to write about the Boss Battles?

Stephy : Now that's spoiling.

Hikaru : How are you going to do it anyway? You never told me.

Stephy : ..._*evil grin*_

Hikaru : ...I have a bad feeling...

Stephy : Don't worry Hikaru. You're not going to be left out...

Hikaru : _*gulp*_

**Question 8** : Are you going to push through the story till the end-?

Stephy : Of course! I mean, I may be the worst updater ever but I never give up on my stories unless they're good enough to stand on their own.

Hikaru : Well that's good. I don't want to be stuck in the same place forever.

Stephy : _*remembers other stories*_...so. Many. Ideas. _*starts to mumble to herself*_

Hikaru : Don't mind her. She's weird. Anyhow, thanks for listening! The next chapter will be put up soon!...I hope. It's almost Christmas Vacation for Stephy anyway.

Stephy : Still have to finish Pyrus 'n Ventus..._*mumble mumble*_...and then Land and Knight..._*mumble mumble*_ What about Shinigami over Prosecutor..? _*mumble*_...GAH...! I have so much to finish...

Hikaru : _*sweatdrop*_

Atsuki : My head hurts.

Hikaru : ...oh, I forgot that you won't be remembering this stuff anyway when this chapter's done. So there was no point in hitting you with the stick.

Atsuki : ...

Hikaru : S-sorry.

Atsuki : You gave me two bumps for nothing. Nice.

Hikaru : I'm sorry okay? Oh yeah, _*bows*_ please forgive us for using script format! We'll probably never use this again so don't worry! *glances at Atsuki* Atsuki, you should bow too!

Atsuki : Who are we bowing to?

Hikaru : The readers!

Atsuki : Who?

Hikaru : You're clueless.

Atsuki : You're the one hitting me with that stick of yours.

Hikaru : Touche. Alright, bye everybody! And see you soon!

Atsuki : I still don't get who we're talking to.


End file.
